Out With the Old, In With the New! The New Year's Thread

[LittleJerry92]

Like I said before, she probably did you a favor on your part.

If anything she herself has some toxic issues she needs to work on..... like even learning to take criticism herself if she’s going to be quick to dish this **** out.

 

[D'Snowth]

For certain, I was just mentioning that as being among some of the interesting things that have happened this past month that have given 2021 a most unusual start to the new year.

 

[Any Del]

She definitely did a favor on your part Snowth. She just proved to you how damaged she is.

You'll be alright.

 

[D'Snowth]

Again, I'm not at all hung up on it. Admittedly, it's nice to finally get a reason from somebody for why they had unfriended and blocked me for seemingly no reason (so now I'm going to assume others who have done the same apparently don't care for how opinionated I am and how I speak my mind), but like I said, that's just one of many things that have happened within the last month that have given 2021 a most unique start to a new year for me.

 

[Any Del]

Welp, now that we're in a new year I want to recap on 2021 from my personal view.

Pros:
Still putting in more work on my animation series I plan to pitch.

Getting to meet Grey Griffin (courtesy of @LittleJerry92) and Alan Muroka from GalaxyCon.

Finishing up my third to last semester. Getting closer to graduation and to finally be done with college!

Meeting Bob Camp, Johnny Yong Bosch and Eric Vale at Comic Con.

Seeing Scooby Doo and Courage movie crossover.

Seeing Spider Man No Way Home (TWICE)

Courtesy of @D'Snowth @Erine81981 and a few others for sharing more rare Courage the Cowardly Dog recordings with me for my Project Courage and personal pleasure.

Obtaining nearly a complete set of Sesame Street episodes (Seasons 30 - 37)

Finding international Sesame Street skits with Elmo's World.

Gaining knowledge of the toxic environment that I'm dealing with.

Being able to go back to the Paley Center of Media and Lincoln Center library after a LONG hiatus!

Cons:
My mental health getting even worse from last year due to the ptsd and anixety from dealing with a npd environment.

Finding out that I have yet ANOTHER semester to conplete in order to graduate.

2021 was slightly better than 2020. However, now that we're in 2022 I plan to finish up college this year, try to get some help with dealing with C-PTSD and Anixety and lose some weight.

 

[D'Snowth]

That than continuing to bellyache over how much of 2021 was shaped and affected by the never-ending pandemic, I think as we reflect on what kind of year 2021 was, we should just note everything else that has happened and how it's made the year as a whole good and/or bad for the rest of us.

I think we can all agree that 2021 got off to a pretty rocky start, but obviously, there was a major factor at play, and that was, indeed, the pandemic, but luckily, the vaccines began rolling out, which was a good thing, it even eventually lead to a brief period of time where it was considered safe for vaccinated people to no longer require masks in public anymore . . . that sure didn't last, but whatever.

Personally, I've found that 2021 was another one of those years that started out really promising, and seemed like things would go fairly smoothly, but then about partway through, things start going south until they just crash and burn . . . so, here's my look back on 2021 and what my personal high and lows have been:

Pros:

• One thing I will say is that 2021 saw a bit of a surge in my artistic and creative endeavors, and while I'm not saying anything about it for now, I will say that I have a major project I will be coming out with later in the fall, that I've been working steadily on for the past year.
• The biggest and most special thing of all was that Twitter ended up reuniting me with my best friend, whom I had not spoken to in years . . . many of you here may remember her as one MrsPepper back in the old days. Yes, she's alive and well, although she had endured a massive head injury with some brain damage, which explains why she seemed to have disappeared for so long; but, she's a fighter and a trooper and has been pushing her way through it all, and I couldn't be more proud of her for it.
• The next biggest and most special thing was the fact that for the second year in a row, September was normal again, as nature intended it to be: no prolonged summer spilling over into the month to make September more like August Part 2, it was such a morale booster to have my favorite month of the year actually be the gateway from summer to fall as it should be - it felt like being born again.
• This brings me to my next point that this was, perhaps, the most tolerable summer we've had in over a decade - usually, we're already suffering over 90 degrees when June comes along, but this year, we didn't even reach the 90 degree mark until the last week of July, so that was nearly two thirds of the summer season knocked off, and it was amazing.
• Getting to meet Marty Grabstein at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo; having been obsessed with COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG as a kid, getting to meet him was such a thrill for me - not to mention of all the people I've had the pleasure of meeting at these cons so far over the years, he has been the warmest and most friendly person I've met yet, which made the experience so much more memorable and special.
• Thanks to a new federal program the state is having right now, it's been incredibly nice to be able to have the local government pay for rent and utilities these past few months; that's been extra money in the bank that's been able to go to thinks like groceries, gas, clothes, and what have you.

The Neutral:

• COVID. I'm just totally indifferent to it now, but nevertheless, I did get my vaccine earlier this year, and I do continue to wear as mask if certain establishments require it, but other than that, I'm just done with the whole thing, and how it's the COVID deniers and the conspiracy theorists who continue to prolong the pandemic, contribute to the spread of the virus, and as Jerry keep saying, this is why America will be the last country to get the virus under control (which, at this point, we probably never will).
• The overall Biden Administration. I see no evidence that he's done any of the things that many Democrats have been praising him for in improving the country post-Trump, but at the sametime, I also don't see how he's making the country worse like Republicans keep crying that he is. If anything, I would agree with those who call him "Sleepy Joe," because I often wonder just what it is he's even doing. However, I'm not at all happy that right-leaning Biden supports Big Pharma, and as a result, my prescription has tripled in price this year.

The Cons:

• The biggest thing being that my dad died last month . . . and he could still be here today if he just put in the effort to improve his health like all of his doctors urged him to. Yes, he had COPD, yes he had emphysema, yes he was on oxygen, but all of his doctors not only give him specific breathing exercizes he should do every day, but also instructed him to stay active - even if it was just a walk around the block once a day or so, and there was a good chance that he could rebuild his overall strength and his lung capacity to the point where he could, one day, come off of oxygen again in the future . . . but, he really wouldn't do much of any of this, and in fact, he pretty much just let himself become an invalid, which gradually lead to this: his death at 77. It still feels unreal that he's no longer with us, especially since he and my mom opted to have him cremated, so that just feels like he not only died, but they basically just killed him all over again after he died just to make sure he's been erased from human existence. The very last time I saw him while he was in a nursing home, he was so heavily medicated and out of it, you could barely communicate with him . . . I'm really saddened that that was my last interaction with him, because I so hoped there would be another day where he'd be a little more clear-headed and alert to really have a nice visit with him, but that never happened.
• Other deaths we've experienced this year as well: Betty White being the clincher, because we all were so looking forward to her reaching her 100 milestone, but alas, she didn't make it . . . just like June Foray years ago, just weeks from turning 100. But also, Charles Grodin, Norm MacDonald, B.J. Thomas, Chick Vennera, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Plummer, and many others.
• I ended up having a nervous breakdown back in the summer that lead to me canceling MORON LEAGUE 4, which I was supposed to have released when SPACE JAM 2 was released . . . I had been working on the project for so long, and it had been quite a frustrating and overwhelming production that it just ended up driving me over the edge, and I decided to pull the plug on it. I'm not saying it's dead for ever, and I may still try to finally finish it up maybe before this summer, but right now, my heart's no longer in it.
• This has ended up being the second-worst December that I can remember - it came close to topping the infamous "Blowtorch Christmas" of 2015, when just about all of December that year saw consistent temps in the 70s for several day; although there were only two days this month that got that high, more than half of the month, otherwise, had been way above average and springlike, which effectively killed and canceled Christmas this year. I was so looking forward to a wonderful cold and chilly December this year like had been predicted, but to get this instead has been one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
• The insurrection. And the fact the right is still trying to downplay what happened that day, while also looking for every scheme they can come up with to nullify Biden's victory and get Trump back into the White House where he doesn't belong.

So yeah, that basically sums up my 2021 in a nutshell.

After what we've been through during 2019, 2020, and 2021, I honestly have no expectations whatsoever for 2022 at all . . . if anything, as long as the COVID deniers and conspiracy theorists continue to **** things up for the rest of us, 2022 will probably just be 2020 Part 3, like others have been predicting.

 

[LittleJerry92]

My overall thoughts on 2021 are it was pretty mediocre at that. About C- level range for me. It had a rocky start, seemed promising during the last month of winter and spring…. But by the time summer came is when it just went to **** for me. That said, here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

Reuniting with an old friend from middle school via a Facebook friend request glitch, but it still felt nice

Getting to meet Grey Delisle-Griffin, Roscoe Orman, Roger Craig Smith, Colleen O’Shaughnessy and Megan Hollingshead via Galaxycon (the last whom even included me in her fan shout out post )

Striking the gold mine with a HUGE library of Sesame Street episodes (credit to @Any Del) and getting to share them with the community for awhile, and even using them as an opportunity to guide up episodes on the wiki

Trump no longer in office so now we don’t have to see his stupid orange face on the media every single day

Getting to take some voice acting classes with Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt

Getting a (belated) birthday shout-out via cameo from Stephanie Sheh as Hinata Hyuga and Orihime Inoue from Naruto and Bleach respectively

Growing more and just learning to recognize red flags and know when there are people just not worth keeping in your life and just learn what people perceive of what you say and do isn’t something you’re responsible for, only what you say and do while at least recognizing if you did eff up on something

Finding a new apartment to live in which will be a week from now

Writing so many great…. Ahem, personal fanfics

Getting my vaccinations and booster

Being able to go into the library again (I absolutely missed going in there)

The fact that I managed to do a song cover of every Thomas the Tank Engine song from the Britt Allcroft/Gullaine era (screw the HiT songs)

Learning to cut back on certain foods. It’s still a challenge, but I try my absolute best

And now…. The cons:

The fact that covid just still exists, and even though we have vaccines and what have you, it just feels like nothing has really improved and we keep going back and forth with it

The fact that I just haven’t felt productive at all this year because this absolute **** apartment I live in just completely drained my energy. It’s gonna be tough regaining it when I move into my new place

Dealing with that absolute narcissistic latino Karen with a HUGE victimhood mentality and a big case of selective hearing because she chooses to let her ****** past determine who she is and looks for every opportunity to play the victim. Personally I’m glad the whole race in voice acting and Tara Strong’s and Greg Cipes’ shipitshow incident showed me who she really is as a person (not to say Tara and Greg weren’t in the wrong either, but she only made a fool of herself joining)

Also having to cut ties with a few other friends who just turned out to be absolutely toxic…. One of whom tried pulling a cheap strawman argument on Snowth during the whole Muppet Show on Disney+ deal that we didn’t get the last two on DVD (which honestly proves 1) she can’t take what she dishes out because she will bawl for WEEKS if you dare try calling her out for her ****, 2) twitter completely changed her personality)

Joe Biden’s presidency so far….. feel like nothing has really been fixed or improved

Gas prices getting ridiculously expensive and I imagine will only get higher next year

Said goldmine of Sesame Street library eventually leading to some nasty consequences no thanks to a certain idiot who has these episodes live completely rent-free in his head and then acts all shocked when he sees what’s happened, and it didn’t help that there was so much bts drama with this guy over this and the gate-keeping mentality he had with them

My grandma on my dad’s side passed away from covid in January and a good family friend lost her 3 year battle with stage 4b colon cancer

Seeing the true colors of voice actor Chuck Huber back in September. As someone who took voice acting classes with him in late 2020 and genuinely enjoyed having him as an instructor, I was incredibly disappointed

Some celeb deaths this year, but I think we can agree Betty White was the biggest one. I mean come on. The very last day of 2021?

My new driver’s license being delayed for nearly a MONTH no thanks to covid. And sadly the same thing will happen again now that I’m switching apartments

Flash is now permanently gone so there goes a big portion of my childhood games I can’t even access through sea monkey anymore because of Apple’s stupid software updates.

And overall feeling like I’ve honestly become a less talkative introvert in real life. It’s not a good feeling.

 

[D'Snowth]

Also having to cut ties with a few other friends who just turned out to be absolutely toxic…. One of whom tried pulling a cheap strawman argument on Snowth during the whole Muppet Show on Disney+ deal that we didn’t get the last two on DVD (which honestly proves 1) she can’t take what she dishes out because she will bawl for WEEKS if you dare try calling her out for her ****, 2) twitter completely changed her personality)

Not to mention her accusations that I, according to her, insulted her heritage, and therefore am racist against Italians, when I, for the life of me, can't remember ever saying anything deragatory about Italians, let alone specifically aimed at her Italian heritage.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Like I said, man….. strawman argument. Nothing to back it up.

 

[fuzzygobo]

2021 I really fared no better, no worse.

Pros:
A new guy started coming to our church who plays guitar and joined our worship team.
We spent a number of summer evenings on his front porch singing and jamming away. He brought a number of new songs so our repertoire expanded by leaps and bounds.

Still have my health, off dialysis for 20 months now and my kidneys are stronger than they’ve been in a long time.

My wife kept working at CVS while others were furloughed, fired, or quit.

Got to grill every chance I got My dinky little grill saw more burgers, dogs, steaks and corn than some of you will see in your lifetime.

Reunited with a friend of mine I haven’t seen for a few years. He’s my oldest friend, I’ve known since 4th grade.

Cons, nothing in particular, with the notable exception of Biden’s screwup in Afghanistan.
You can accuse Trump all you want, but pulling out the military while leaving American citizens behind, Biden has to own it 100%.

The weather has been about the same. I learned a long time ago not to worry about things you can’t control.
Can you control the weather?
No? Well, neither can I. Next case.

It is a shame Betty White didn’t make her 100th birthday. It would’ve been nice, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Back in 1996, George Burns made it too 100 plus four days, then he kicked the bucket.

Every year celebrities die. Just having a hit tv show or a big movie does not make you immune to a fate we’re all gonna face someday. It’s not the years in your life, it’s the life in your years.

Alex, I’m happy you’re moving soon, so you have something big to look forward to.
Any Del, I know how bad your home life is, but I’m glad your Pros outnumber your Cons.